MELBOURNE, Australia (LSN.ca) – A new study is casting doubt on the 30-year old received wisdom that marriage benefits men more than it does women. Au contraire, data on 10,641 adults from the 1996 national survey of mental health suggest the benefits of matrimony extend to wives as well as husbands.
In 1972, sociologist Jessie Bernard publicized her finding that men are psychologically better off married, but that these benefits are gained at the expense of women. “That became a central tenet of the women's liberation movement in the 1970s,” notes the journal New Scientist. It was often suggested that “catering” to a husband and children simply “drove women crazy.”
Now, psychologist David de Vaus from La Trobe University in Melbourne has found flaws in Bernard's trend-setting work. In the winter issue of Family Matters, the journal of the Australian Institute of Family Studies, de Vaus says it is “unequivocal” that, “When a range of types of mental disorders are considered, marriage reduces the risk of mental disorders for both men and women.”
To visit the homepage of the Australian Institute of Family Studies and to read an abstract click here.
(This update courtesy of LifeSite News.)
